Mentors 2007

Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Chloe Bulinski:
Function of the cytoskeleton during the cell cycle and differentiation
Dr. Martin Chalfie:
Developmental genetics of identified nerve cells in C. elegans
Dr. Larry Chasin:
Pre-mRNA splicing in cultured mammalian cells
Dr. Virginia Cornish:
Ribosome chemistry
Dr. Julio Fernandez:
Micromechanics of the extracellular matrix
Dr. Stuart Firestein:
Cellular mechanisms and signal transduction of olfaction
Dr. Tulle Hazelrigg:
mRNA localization in Drosophila oocytes
Dr. John Hunt:
Structural biology of transmembrane transport
Dr. Songtao Jia:
Epigenetic regulation of the genome
Dr. Daniel Kalderon:
Hedgehog signaling in Drosophila development
Dr. Darcy Kelley:
Neurobiology of vocal communication and sexual differentiation
Dr. Ann McDermott:
Solid-state NMR studies of enzyme mechanism and membrane protein structure
Dr. Elizabeth Miller:
Protein folding, assembly, and the regulation of intracellular protein transport
Dr. Dana Pe'er:
The function and organization of molecular networks.
Dr. Ron Prywes
Growth factor regulation of gene expression
Dr. Mike Sheetz:
Cell motility, motor molecules, & integrin-cytoskeleton interactions
Dr. Brent Stockwell:
Diagramming disease networks with chemical and biological tools
Dr. Alex Tzagoloff:
Energy coupling mechanisms in yeast
Dr. Jian Yang:
Structure, function and regulation of ion channels
Dr. Raffa Yuste:
Function of the cortical microcircuit


Department of Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Edward Guo:
Bone tissue biomechanics
Dr. Elizabeth Hillman:
Optical imaging of living tissues
Dr. Clark Hung:
Cell and tissue engineering
Dr. Lance Kam:
Biophysics of cell signalling
Dr. Elisa Konofagou:
Novel Elasticity techniques such as breast elastography & ligament elastography
Dr. Helen Lu:
Design of novel composite biomaterials for implantaion
Dr. Barclay Morrison:
Neurotrauma and repair

Department of Psychology
Dr. Peter Balsam: (Barnard)
Learning and adaptive behavior
Dr. Frances Champagne:
Neurobiology of maternal care and epigenetic mechanisms of transmission of behavior across generations
Dr. Norma Graham:
Mathematical models of visual perception
Dr. Carl Hart: (Lab located uptown)
Drug effects on workplace-relevant behaviors
Dr. Joy Hirsch:
Neurocircuitory of the mind
Dr. Don Hood:
Physiological bases of visual processes
Dr. Janet Metcalfe:
Metacognition, evolution of self-reflective consciousness
Dr. Kevin Ochsner:
Social cognitive neuroscience approaches to emotion
Dr. Rae Silver:
Neurobiological basis of circadian rhythms
Dr. Herbert Terrace:
Primate Cognition Lab

Department of Statistics
Liam Paninski:
Understanding the neural code through statistical analysis and modeling

Columbia University – Health Sciences Campus

Anatomy and Cell Biology
Dr. Jonathan Barasch:
Kidney organogenesis
Dr. Liza Pon:
Role of the actin cytoskeleton
Dr. Lorna Role:
CNS development and synaptic plasticity in neuropsychiatic disorders
Dr. Ann-Judith Silverman:
Cellular migration in the central nervous system

Anesthesiology
Dr. H. Thomas Lee:
The protective roles of ischemic preconditioning and adenosine receptor modulation against renal ischemic reperfusion injury

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Dr. Stephen Goff:
Molecular biology of retrovirus replication; tyrosine kinases and signal transduction
Dr. Maxwell Gottesman:
Regulation of transcription termination in E. coli and bacteriophage
Dr. Eric Greene:
Molecular mechanisms of DNA recombination and repair
Dr. Iva Greenwald:
Cell interactions, signal transduction, and cell fate choice in C. elegans
Dr. Oliver Hobert:
Genetic programs that control neural development in C. elegans
Dr. Richard Mann:
Control of pattern formation by homeotic genes and their downstream targets in Drosophila
Dr. Arthur Palmer:
NMR studies of the structure, function and dynamics of proteins

Genetics & Development
Dr. Frank Costantini:
Molecular genetics of mammalian development
Dr. Laura Johnston:
Control of the cell cycle and growth during development
Dr. Virginia Papaioannou:
Genetic control of mammalian embryogenesis and organogenesis and the role of T-box genes
Dr. Rodney Rothstein:
Yeast genetics and cellular responses to DNA damage in cancer

Medicine
Dr. Ira Goldberg:
Cell interactions, signal transduction, and cell fate choice in C. elegans
Dr. Christian Schindler:
Cytokine signal transduction and its role in immune response

Microbiology
Dr. Jonathan Dworkin:
Cell biology of protein localization and chromosome segregation in Bacillus subtilis
Dr. Adam Ratner:
Bacterial pathogenesis and innate immunity
Dr. Howard Shuman:
Molecular basis of ATP-driven transporters and host-pathogen interactions
Dr. Saul Silverstein:
Control of gene expression in human herpes and papillomavirus infected cells.
Dr. Lorraine Symington:
Genetics and biochemistry of DNA recombination and repair in yeast

Nephrology
Dr. Donald Landry:
Medical application of artificial enzymes; pathogenesis of vasodilatory shock

Neurology
Dr. Scott Small:
Correlations of memory and changes in the hippocampal formation using fMRI imaging in normal aging and in Alzheimer disease

Otolaryngology
Dr. Gloria Su:
Molecular genetics of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pathology
Dr. Asa Abeliovich:
Molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and the life cycle of dopamine neurons
Dr. Gilbert Di Paolo:
Role of phosphoinositides in organelle trafficking, cytoskeletal dynamics and disease-related processes
Dr. Phyllis Faust:
Studies the Pex2 mouse model for a human neural migration disorder
Dr. Jan Kitajewski:
Wnt and Notch genes in tumorigenesis and vascular development
Dr. Brett Lauring:
Intracellular protein trafficking in neurodegenerative diseases
Dr. Ron Liem:
Neuronal cytoskeleton and neurdegenerative disease
Dr. Yinghui Mao:
Kinetochore microtubule attachment, chromosome movement, and mitotic checkpoint during mitosis
Dr. Carol Mason:
Molecular mechanisms of axon guidance and synaptogenesis
Dr. Cathy Mendelsohn:
Molecular pathways controlling the development of the urogenital system
Dr. Ramon Parsons:
Genetics of breast cancer tumorigenesis
Dr. Ila Singh:
High resolution functional mapping of retroviral genes
Dr. Carol Troy:
Molecular mechanisms of neuronal death

Pharmacology
Dr. William Dauer:
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of motor system disease
Dr. Gerald Fischbach:
Molecular control of the formation and maintenance of synapses
Dr. Steve Greenberg:
Macrophage signal transduction
Dr. Rene Hen:
Serotonin receptors and behavior
Dr. Jonathan Javitch
Antagonist binding and specificity of G coupled receptors
Dr. Alice Prince :
Bacterial induction of cytokine signaling in epithelial cells
Dr. Richard Robinson:
Developmental regulation of cardiac ion channel function and autonomic signaling cascades
Dr. Steven Siegelbaum:
Molecular studies of ion channel structure and function
Dr. Gareth Tibbs:
Molecular mechanism and physiological functions of HCN encoded pacemaker ion channels – Molecular rhythm generators

Physiology and Cell Biophysics
Dr. Wes Grueber:
Mechanisms of dendritic morphogenesis and patterning
Dr. Brian McCabe:
Molecular genetics of synaptic development and plasticity in Drosophila
Dr. Ning Qian:
Computational modeling of neural systems and visual psychophysics
Dr. Peter Scheiffele:
Molecular mechanisms of synapse formation
Dr. Samuel Silverstein:
Structure and functions of innate immunity and related diseases

Psychiatry
Dr. John Martin:
Motor development and motor recovery after spinal cord injury
Dr. Stephen Rayport:
Cellular mechanisms of drug action and synaptic function in rat mesolimbic dopamine neurons; relevancy to addiction and schizophrenia
Dr. Daniel Salzman:
Neural mechanisms underlying emotional learning and behavior
Dr. David Sulzer:
Neurotransmission and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in basal ganglia and dopamine neurons

Surgery
Dr. Benjamin Samstein:
B cell immunology
Dr. Ann Marie Schmidt:
RAGE and mechanisms linked to diabetes, cancer, inflammation

New York State Psychiatric Institute
Dr. Jay Gingrich:
Genetic dissection of complex signaling pathways in schizophrenia
Dr. John Mann:
Serotonin and a predisposition for suicide

St. Luke’s Hospital – Obesity Research Center
Dr. Harry Kissileff:
Human eating disorders
Dr. Joseph Vasselli:
Mechanisms of appetite and body weight regulation